A Minute That Was Cut Out

"The Seventh Witness" is a socialist suspense novel with the theme of school bullying. Ten years ago, Lin Zhixia, a girl from Mingde Middle School, fell from the rooftop of the old teaching building. The incident was characterized as "committing suicide due to personal psychological reasons." Ten years later, documentary editor Shen Yan received an anonymous email late at night with only four words in the title: Letter from the Dead. In the attachment, an old surveillance video shows that he actually appeared at the door of the rooftop before Lin Zhixia fell. As the investigation progresses, old school badges with numbers, a suppressed report letter, a minute-cut video, and the silence of classmates, teachers, school authorities and adult interest chains gradually piece together the buried truth. What Shen Yan is tracing is not only "who killed Lin Zhixia", but also how the bullying ten years ago was watched, condoned, modified and forgotten. This is not a story of simple revenge or overturning a verdict, but of belated testimony. Everyone who saw it but didn't speak must face their silence again. The so-called "seventh witness" is not a specific person, but all the people who finally admitted that they had seen it.